I am new to this forum I have a 1997 Mazda B 4000 4x4 that i swapped a 302 in with a M50DR2 Transmission and a 4406 transfer case. The 302 came out of a 1998 Ford explorer. The transmission and transfer case came out of a 2001 F150 4.2 V6. When I turn the key on the dash lights come on and I can hear the fuel pump cycle . When I try to crank it there is nothing. I still have the auto harness plugged in. So I took the shift selector off of the old automatic transmission and plugged it into the wire harness, had it in the park position, and still no crank tried it in the neutral position still no crank. I can jump the solenoid under the hood, and the motor will crank over and I do have fuel just no spark. The explorer had PATS I believe the ECU had PATS disabled. I was able to start the explorer before I pulled the engine out. It had a plain metal key with no chip. It also had the whole exhaust system missing, including catalytic converter‘s, and it still started. I did pull the whole PATS system out of the explorer, including the round ring on the ignition and the PATS box behind the glove box I did not find any chipped key zip tied to any of that, so I believe this system has been deleted of PATS. I’m not sure what my problem is and any advice would be appreciate it.

 

Welcome to the forum

Are you using the Ranger's engine fuse box and wiring or the Explorer's engine fuse box and wiring?

1996 Ranger would have a Starter Relay on the inner fender(sometimes mispronounced starter solenoid, lol), 1998 Explorer would have a starter relay inside the engine fuse box, for PATS

Did the 1996 Ranger have a Factory alarm or keyless entry system?
It will have a starter interrupt relay under the dash somewhere, and a RAP Module

1996 Ranger START circuit with automatic
Ignition switch in START---(red/blue)---fuse 24(cab)----(red/blue)---(clutch switch jumper)------(pink or pink/whte)--------NSS---------(red/blue)---------starter relay on inner fender

1998 Explorer START with automatic
Ignition switch in START---(red/blue)---fuse 24(cab)----(red/blue)---(clutch switch jumper)------(pink or pink/white)--------NSS---------(TAN/RED)-------starter relay in engine bay fuse box

So with the exception of the Tan/red wire from transmission NSS switch to starter relay they are pretty much the same

If 1996 Ranger does have keyless entry and a RAP module there could be a starter interrupt relay, it was a pay extra option to add the alarm to keyless entry, but you had to have keyless entry to add the alarm

 

Thank you for the reply.

I am using the Rangers fuse box and wiring. The starter relay is on the fender wall. The solenoid is on the starter. Lol

it does not have an alarm system, or keyless entry.

I will use the wire/color info and see what I can do

thank you.

 

So the 97 Mazda/96 ranger was originally a standard transmission . Would the wiring for the start circuit need to be modified to work with the auto trans harness?

 

Yes, above the clutch pedal area there would be a 6 pin connector for the clutch switch

Looks like this: https://www.2carpros.com/images/ques...9/original.jpg

Pins/wires in 5 and 6 need to be connected together to pass the 12volts to the starter relay, Ford added a connector on this connector, "clutch switch jumper", when an automatic was used, so the START wire was extended to NSS switch on transmission

All Rangers were wired as Manuals until 2001/2, at that time Ford changed to separate Manual and Auto harnesses, but up 'til then if vehicle was an automatic it would have a clutch switch jumper harness added

The Clutch switch has 3 switches inside all 3 are OPEN when clutch pedal is up, besides the 2 START wires the other wires act to disable cruise if clutch pedal is pressed(3 and 4) and tell Computer if clutch pedal is down(1 and 2) this indicates Neutral to the Computer since there is no Neutral switch in the Ranger's manual transmission

 

Thank you RonD

you truly have great knowledge of the ranger!
so my computer thinks that I have an automatic and I need to jump the wires in the auto harness as well as the wires on the clutch safety switch and then my start circuit should work if I understand correctly! I will give it a try, and let you know how it goes.
Thank you for your help!

 

So I now can get the truck to crank with the ignition switch. I have good fuel pressure at the fuel rails, but it will not start. I know that I have spark because it will start with starting fluid. The engine ran when I pulled it from the 1998 explorer. This is in a 1997 Mazda B4000. PATS was deleted when it was in the explorer.

 

Whats the fuel pressure at the engine?
30-40psi was spec in 1998 5.0l, same as 1997 B4000

Injectors and fuel pump were part of PATS system, but not spark

All the injectors share a single 12volt wire, and should have 12v with key on, test for that at any easy to get at injector plug-in
The PCM then grounds each injector when it has the timing pulse from Crank sensor and then Cam sensor when it switches to sequential injection

Timing pulse should be there if spark is working and PATS is disabled

 

I got a noid light and plugged in to the injector harness and it flashed while cranking. I also have 40 psi on the fuel rail. At this point I think that my pressure regulator and or injectors are gummed up.

 

Crank the engine over a few times
Pull out any easy to get at spark plug
Should be WET with fuel
Light the tip with a match, should burn fast and bright, if not then whats in the rail/fuel lines ain't "fuel" no more, lol

All 6 injectors plugging up would be a long shot and it would also mean fuel rail is as well
Gasoline only last 4 to 6 months in an open gas tank, which it is, and if it sits for over a month, all the water in the gas sinks to the bottom of the tank, all gasoline has water in it, just FYI, "bad gas" has too much water
Anyway if gas is not that old then you may just be sucking in the water at the bottom of the tank for now

 

I changed my fuel filter, and poured in 15 gal of fresh chevron gas and cycled the fuel pump a few times with the inlet line unhooked it looked and smelled like good gas. I hooked up the line and cycled the pump a few more times then i pushed the Schrader valve in and fresh fuel sprayed the hood with good force. When I first started it smelled like bad gas when I would crank it, now it smells fresh. I do agree that it would be a long shot for all 8 injectors to be gummy. I’ll pull a plug or 2 or better yet I’ll collect some of the gas dripping out of the exhaust manifold and see if it burns.
it sure runs good on starting fluid though. 😂
Thank you for all of your help! I will post what I find .

 

So I changed the fuel pressure regulator and got it to start. The problem now is that the engine runs away on start up. The rpm’s instantly and rapidly go to 4000 by the time I shut it off. I do have my o2 sensors dangling as I don’t have an exhaust system yet just stock manifolds. 98 302 in 97 ranger .

 

Air creates RPMs, so make sure throttle is closed all the way and all Vacuum ports are hooked up(at both ends) or open ports are plugged, tape is fine

Computer doesn't use O2 sensors until engine is warmed up

 

Well I found my problem, it was the throttle cable end was too short so when hooked up to the butterfly it held it about a third of the way open. I should have noticed that sooner. I still have a lot of little things to do like put the bed back on, install new leaf springs , get oil pressure gauge working, hook up A/C, install electric fan, get the drivelines on, have the auto trans turned off in the ecu, and do the exhaust. I’m just happy that it starts and runs. Thank you for your help RonD!!!